This is, by far, the best implementation of a game concept that I have ever seen accomplished. It is the best game I have ever played. The concept deserves a five-star rating, but unfortunately, I can not ignore the minor annoyances that have shipped in the final product. In addition to those I have already mentioned, there are several others: for some reason, the Help file is not available from the Duel screen in Shandalar (even though an option to pull up Help is available); and, since the only way to save games is by hitting the Control-S key combination from the Shandalar screen, I feel like I need three hands to do it as quickly as I would like to; and the promised internet/network capabilities are not included. But, for variety, hours of gameplay and depth of gaming experience, there simply is no better game.

With over two billion cards sold worldwide, Magic the Gathering (MtG) is certainly the most popular strategy card game ever. What made its success is not only the fine card art work and the appeal for the rich content of the game, but also the fact that it is the first collectible trading card game, which opened the magic world of MtG to both, players and collectors. Additional cards sold through expansion packs ensured Wizards of the Coast, the company behind MtG, a loyal audience of fans looking for more cards to play and/or collect. But if the concept worked for trading cards, would it be the same with computer games. That's the question on which MicroProse and Wizards of the Coast worked on for over two years, the time necessary for the development of a computer version of the game that has just been released by MicroProse.

With a faithful translation of the card game and a challenging, fun adventure element, MicroProse's MAGIC game definitely beats out Acclaim's real-time pretender, even without the much-anticipated multiplayer support. Veteran Magic players will enjoy the adventure and the opportunity to play some very rare cards, while beginners, thanks to the Tutorial, will at least be able to find out why this game is so addictive.

Although the duel interface has a few glitches - the computer slows down dramatically when there are a lot of cards on the table and you can't turn off the rather annoying sound effects - the computerized version of Magic plays remarkably well. The game does not support multi-player, which is a huge disappointment. If the game had shipped with multi-player capability and the one-player adventure story was better developed, it would have been great. As it is, it's a good showing, but it has potential to be much more.